Under the Mask
by SongsofPsyche1945
Summary: Poe has to watch an injured, mute Kylo Ren after he is rescued off of Star Killer Base. AU/Everyone lives/No slash.
1. Chapter 1

This is my AU (not in canon with the movie), the rebels picked up Kylo before his lord did. Han survived but is gravely injured. They are on a ship and will be for a while. Poe was Ben's childhood friend even though he is slightly older than him. I am not a Star Wars expert and I am not trying to be, I am writing because I love to write and I am intrigued by Kylo Ren. I am in no way trying to troll or hurt your fandom, I am just writing fanfiction purely for my enjoyment.

Thank you.

888

"You've got to be joking."

"No sir."

"Please, why can't anybody else-."

"I don't give the orders, Poe. I just deliver them. If you have a problem, take it up with General Organa."

Poe sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Fine." He said

He snatched the piece of paper out of the soldier's hand and strode down the hallway.

"Fine. I'll go take to her. Ill go and get my head bit off that's what would happen-OUCH! Watch where you're going! Oh, sorry Chewie-."

Poe had been so distracted but his recent bad luck that he had walked straight into the giant wookie.

"Rawwrrr." He mumbled sadly

Poe looked up at him sympathy, "I know, Chewie. I know. But Han is going to be okay, once the surgeons finish with him. In a few weeks you'll have your best friend back, I promise."

"Rawwerrr rrrrr grrrrr?"

"What am I mad about? I'm not mad-."

"Grrraaaa" and he pointed to the letter in Poe's hand.

"Oh….this. I'm going to talk to General Organa about it right now, actually."

"Grrrrrrr?"

"Og it's just….just ridiculous. You know how our last ship did a sweep of the planet before it was destroyed? Well, they found…they found Kylo Ren. He's been badly injured, but alive and they want someone—scratch that—they want ME to look after him until we transport him the prison unit. ME a goddamn babysitter for the worst man in the entire galaxy. I just cant believe it, I-."

"Grawwww graw graw. Grawwww?"

"Well, I don't care if Leia told you that we were friends growing up. HE'S NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE. He tried to kill me, he tried to kill Han, his own father. I'm sorry Chewie, but I just cant do it. Not this one. " Poe told the wookie angrily, half crumbling the letter in his hand.

Chewie crumbled his face and shook his head.

"Don't give me that look. I know I'm right. I'll see you later bud, I have to talk to the General."

And without another word, Poe turned from his friend and walked briskly down the hallway.

Leia Organa was sitting at her desk, looking at a digital map and taking notes on her tablet when Poe walked inside her office.

"You are here about your latest assignment, are you not?" she asked without looking up from the map.

"Yes ma'm. I don't-."

"What you do or don't think doesn't matter. I am General and I make the rules." Leia said, standing up from her chair and looking at Poe.

She glanced up at him, and Poe saw how tired her face was and how sad she seemed.

"But I also think you should do it" she said softly, turning away from him and looking out her small desk window.

"You are one of the few people who knew him as Ben. If anyone where to get through to him, it would be you." She continued

Poe stared at her, "We were friends when we were eight years old. I can barely remember, it was so long ago. How do you think I'd be able-."

"He's mute, Poe." Leia said, and Poe felt himself take an involuntary sharp breath.

"What?"

"He was injured, during the rescue. The doctors told me they had to operate to remove some of the metal that had gotten into his throat when the planet was exploding. There was too much damage and now….now he'll never speak again." She said sadly, and Poe saw the eyes of a mother mourning for her child.

"Oh…"

"I cant just let some stranger watch him. Not after something like that. Yes, he's a war criminal but he's also my son and know we can get him back if we just try. Please, please Poe?" She said, looking up at him.

Poe sighed. He _had_ known Kylo—Ben when they were growing up. He had a dim memory of them being lectured by a very distraught Leia because they had thought it would be a good idea to pogo stick down the hallway and through the glass window. He still had the scar on his chin from that incident, if one looked close enough they could see it. Ben had given him his teddy bear that night because he felt so bad about his friend getting injured. Ben had been a good soul, and hopefully he would still be in there under the mask of Kylo Ren. It felt wrong not to at least try to get him back.

Poe nodded, "I understand, Leia. And I'll try my best."

Leia nodded and gave him a weak smile, "Thank you, Poe."

888

This will be a 4-5 part series. Next one should be up within the week.

I am very serious about my work. I write and with that said, I want to take a moment to talk about respecting the works that are on here.

I totally will accept constructive criticism, everyone should, it's the only way we can become better writers but I will not accept hateful comments. Constructive criticism is defined as the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one. The purpose of **constructive criticism** is to improve the outcome. We are all on here because we love to read and write fanfiction, and I fully support everyone who reads, writes and posts. Some write because they want to tell a story, others write as a way to cope with their past and to heal, and some write purely because they love it. Please remember to be respectful with your comments.

Respect your fellow authors, respect yourself.

Peace and love,

Songsofpsyche.


	2. Chapter 2

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Poe felt his chest twinge with nervousness as he down the long hallway of the medical ward. Kylo was the only patient in this section, and it was heavily guarded with cameras and watch droids. No one could get in or out without permission. To Poe, this felt more like a prison then a hospital wing. He knew they were just taking precautions, even an injured Kylo Ren was still a dangerous one. The fewer people on this floor, the better it was for everyone. Poe stopped in front of room 224, lifted his hand to open the door with his key but then paused. What would he even say? Nothing? Something stupid? He shook his head, but kept drawing a blank. _You can't stay out here forever. You have to go in eventually._ He berated himself, until finally he took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped inside the room.

 _It's small._ Was his first initial thought. The room was maybe the size of a pantry, with just enough room for a bed, sink, medical equipment and a toilet. Kylo Ren was laying face up on the bed, with a thin blanket pulled up to his chest. Both his wrists and ankles were secured tightly with thick restraints that held him down to the bed. A white bandage covered up half his face, and there was a tan brace around his neck. The eye that was not covered by the bandage was closed, but Poe thought he saw it flicker when he walked in.

Poe paced the small room several times before he finally took to the chair next to the bed. It wasn't until he had he sat down did Kylo open his one good eye and stare at him. Poe stared back at him, trying to figure out something to say with this moment becoming even more awkward.

 _Remember me? I was the one who you captured and tortured a few weeks ago._ Was what he wanted to say, but Poe immediately thought of Leia and knew that _that_ was not what she would want him to say. She wanted to convert Kylo back over to their side again, she he assumed he would have to be _nice….._ to the man that killed thousands of people.

"I guess I'll be the one to talk first." Poe started, looking at the ever-staring eye.

"You are in the hospital wing of our—the rebel's as you like to call us—ship. We were able to rescue you off of that thing…planet before it exploded. I am here to watch you. Direct orders from General Organa….." Poe trailed off again as he watched the eye watch him.

"You can generally understand everything I am saying, right?" Poe asked

The eye stared for a few more seconds and then blinked once.

"I'll take that as a yes." Poe confirmed. He watched as Kylo looked around the small room, eye bouncing between the ceiling, the equipment, and the door and back to Poe. Silently, he then studied himself on the bed, hands curling in their restraints slightly as he pulled and tested them. Then the eye went back to Poe, expecting him to say more.

"You were injured badly, they didn't want you upsetting the bandages as you slept. Once you've healed some, I'm sure those will come off." Poe said, pointing Kylo's wrists.

Kylo nodded his head, then opened his mouth to try to speak but only managed a small cough. Poe stared at him, and then realized with horror that Kylo didn't know that he couldn't speak. No one had told him yet. Poe winced internally and prayed that Kylo's use of the force was diminished by his injuries.

"You were injured, during the battle. It may be some time before you can speak again." Poe said

The eye rolled, and Poe know that Kylo knew he was lying.

"Actually, the injuries were pretty bad—I'll get a doctor to explain the details-but it may be difficult for you to speak again…ever." Poe said, wincing at his word choice. Even he knew it sounded cheesy and fake.

The eye closed, and then opened again slowly, this time flashing with disbelief and anger. Kylo struggled to sit up against the restraints, pulling against them in quick, panicked movements. The heart rate monitor connected to him beeped faster, indicating a quickened pulse rate. _Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep._

"Whoa. Calm down, its going to be okay-." Poe said, and he reached toward to touch Kylo—only as a gesture of reassurance—and was taken aback when Kylo flinched away from his touch as if he had burned him.

The eye met his eye, "Stay away from me" Kylo mouthed and suddenly Poe felt himself being lifted up off the ground and pushed into the wall. The air felt thick with electricity and Poe saw sparks flying as Kylo gasped for breath, hands shaking as panic set in.

"Kylo-please. Calm down-." Poe tired but he felt an unnatural force throw him back against the wall again. Frantically, Poe grabbed the monitor that was connected to the I.V in Kylo's arm. With a few quick taps he ordered the sedative to be sent into Kylo's veins. It took a few seconds, but soon the electricity in the air diminished and the thrashing stopped. Poe had one quick glimpse of the angry, panicked eye for it closed.

Poe watched as the monitor slowed, _beep..beep…beep….beep…..beep…..beep_ until finally it went back to the normal pace. He sighed and slumped against the chair. The energy he had felt in the air vanished almost as quickly as it had came.

 _So much for my first meeting_ he thought as he stared at the young man in the bed. He watched for a few more seconds, and then pulled out his tablet feeling glad that he had thought to bring it. He settled down in the chair, and started reading.

This was going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

888

As always, thank you for reading. Next chapter should be up tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

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"How is he?" Leia asked, the crack in her voice giving away her despair to hear some good news, _any_ good news at all.

"He's….." Poe started, but then trailed off. How was Kylo Ren? Mute, traumatized, scared, powerful _dangerous._

"He'll be alright. Once the shock wears off. " he said, trying to sound comforting.

Leia rolled her eyes, "You're bad at lying, Poe. Tell me the truth, how is he?"

"Frightened. Alone. Miserable. He was only awake for 5 minutes before I had to sedate him. The dark side of the force is still strong with him. Even tied down and weak he still managed to throw me against the wall before I could administer the sedative." Poe reported, eyes darting back and forth from Leia's face to her clenched fist and back again.

"Once he's seen the light, once he gives up the darkness he'll come back to us. He has to." Leia whispered, and Poe did not miss the deep sadness of her voice, like a mother grieving a lost child.

Poe reached out his hand and touched her shoulder softly.

"He will. It may take some time, but he will." he said

They were silent for a few beats, and then Poe looked up at Leia and smiled.

"Do you remember the Pogo Stick Incident? When we were children?" he asked

Leia rolled her eyes, but then smiled. "How could I forget? When you flew through that window I thought for sure that you were dead. I think that was the only time I ever raised my voice at you two-."

"Hahaha. It so was not. But I can't blame you. We were a couple of troublemakers, weren't we?" he said, smiling.

"I remember one time, late at night you two were having a sleep over. I had gotten up to get a drink of water and I found the both of you in the kitchen, Kylo stacked on top of your shoulders with his little arms reaching for the cookie chair." Leia said, her eyes lighting up at the memory.

"I was laughing too hard to scold you, and the two of you scrambled off with the stolen cookies back to your beds." She said, and then she sighed, eyes looking sad.

"And now he's gone." she asked, looking up at Poe.

"It wasn't your fault, Leia. It was nobody's fault. And he's not gone, just lost in the woods. We just have to find him again."

"We have to." She said

"I know, and we will. It'll just take some time." Poe answered.

He lifted her chin so that their eyes met.

"Don't lose hope."

Poe walked through the door into the small room and realized that Kylo's bandages had been removed. The skin, though badly cut by the lightsaber had healed but it had left a dark scar that ran down the bridge of his nose, across his cheek and ended at his chin. Poe smiled slightly and was once again awe inspired by the technology they had on this ship. The had droids that could heal a bone in seconds, and 3D printers that would create prosthetic limbs in less than ten minutes. Why they had waited a week to fix Kylo's wounds, Poe did not know. He suspected that the doctors wanted to treat those who fought in the rebellion first and maybe, just maybe leaving Kylo Ren—the maddened First Order lord that destroyed two planets in one day—to suffer from his injuries was their own way of getting revenge. Some things were just beyond repair though, like Kylo's voice. Both Poe and the doctors knew it was gone forever, and there was nothing they could do to get it back.

After yesterday's events, Kylo had remained heavily sedated and Poe was just fine with that. It gave him time to think about how he wanted to approach his new task. Leia wanted him to be there for Kylo, and to remind him of who he used to be. She thought that maybe seeing an old childhood friend would help him come back to the light side. Poe was a little apprehensive of this idea, mainly because he valued his life and did not want to get strangled by the force.

It took a minute for Poe to realize that someone was watching him. He looked up and saw that Kylo was awake, groggy, but awake. Poe then noticed that something was different about Kylo's other eye; instead of it being dark brown, it was a pale milky white and then he realized that Kylo was blind in one eye.

"Uhh, hello, uh Ben or um…Kylo." Poe stated awkward. Kylo flinched slightly, but then turned to look at Poe. His eyes narrowed, as if to say _you again._

"Yeah. Me again. You're kinda stuck with me. Sorry." Poe said

Kylo shrugged, _like I care about you, or anybody else for that matter._

"Well, there's a lot of people who still care about you here, even if you say you don't care about us. We do." Poe answered.

Kylo rolled his eyes, and then once again inspected himself on the bed. He pulled at the restraints and then shot Poe a look, _why am I still in these things?_

"That's just the way it is, for now. Do you want to sit up?" Poe asked, and then without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the remote control for the bed and hit the up button. Immediately, Poe realized that he had made a mistake as he felt the air once again surge with energy. Kylo flinched and twitched against the restraints, face stricken with fear. The lights flickered and sparks flew in the air. Poe felt a force shove him backwards and he dropped the remote. The heart rate monitor beeped faster and faster _beepbeepbeepbeepbeep._

Poe stared, and then he realized that Kylo wasn't reacting to the bed being moved, he was reacting because he had no control over it. Poe instantly berated himself for acting so foolishly, for thinking that he could just take control over Kylo without having consequences. Kylo was scared, and he needed to feel like he was in control to feel comfortable.

The lights flickered again and Poe felt the air crackle around him. It was happening again. The dark force was coming alive again and getting stronger the more Kylo panicked. He needed to calm down, he needed something to distract him from the panic-

"Uhhhhh….Uhhhh 30 white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp then they stand still. What are they*?" Poe asked quickly, standing back up and hoping, praying that this ludicrous idea would work.

Kylo stopped mid struggle and stared at him and Poe held his breath.

"We used to do riddles when we were young. Do you remember?" he asked after a few more beats of silence.

Kylo nodded his head slowly, not taking his eyes off Poe.

Poe felt the electricity in the room start to fade away.

Kylo then sighed, looked at Poe and mouthed "teeth".

Poe smiled, "Yes, yes that's right. Teeth. You told me that one, remember? It took me almost the whole day to figure it out. It was quite clever."

Kylo nodded again.

"Do you want to sit up?" Poe asked again, gesturing to the bed.

Kylo nodded.

This time, Poe moved carefully. He picked up the remote control from the floor and showed it to Kylo.

"This one is up, this one is down. I'll let you do it." He explained, pointing to the arrows. Then he slipped the remote into his hand.

Kylo nodded again, fumbled with the buttons and soon the bed started to incline. When he was sitting up comfortably, the bed stopped.

"Now that's a bit better, right?" Poe asked

Kylo nodded again, but then pulled his hands against the straps holding him to the bed and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Poe hesitated for a moment, then reached and undid the restraints.

"If anyone questions it, they'll answer to me." He said

Kylo lifted his hands up to his Kylo, feeling for the scars. His hands went down and he stopped deep red scar on his neck.

"Careful." Poe warned him. Kylo flinched at his raised voice but then put his hands down in his lap.

They stared at each other for ten whole seconds.

"So….." Poe started, but then trailed off again.

"Do you like cards?" Poe asked, an idea coming to him.

Kylo cast him a suspicious look and raised his eyes _Cards?_ He seemed to say _I am Kylo Ren commander of the First Order feared by all and you are asking me to play cards?_

"Well then what do you suggest? We're stuck in here until…..6 that's when I get my dinner break. Unless you would like to sit and glare at me all day –something I wouldn't mind but would rather you not do."

Kylo sighed, blowing a wisp of hair out of his face then nodded. _Sure, there's not like I can do anything else._

Poe smiled, and reached in his bag for his deck of cards.

888

Thank you for reading! Next chapter will be up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Poe sat across from Kylo on the floor by the bed, as close as Kylo would allow him to be, which was pretty far—Poe had to reach way forward to just grab a card and even then he had to be careful, unexpected movements caused Kylo to flinch. Probably because he could only see out of his right eye, his left eye remained cloudy and unseeing. Poe had made a note to talk to a doctor about it, surely it could easily be fixed.

They were both engrossed in their game of cards that stretched between the two. Kylo grabbed a nine and went to put it underneath the ten, but hesitated and looked up at Poe.

"That's right." Poe assured him. Kylo confidently put the card down. Poe laughed,

"That leaves me to do this"

And he put his line of straight cards underneath the 9, claiming the pile.

Kylo snorted and put his hands up in the air.

"Winning is all about confidence, _ya know_?"

Kylo shook his head, putting his hands underneath his chin, he examined the cards, plotting his next move.

So far today had been good, with the exception of the one break down that morning. As long as they kept it on a light note, and Poe didn't touch him, Kylo seemed to be alright.

He watched as Kylo picked up a red four, and tried to stick it underneath a red five.

"Hey! That's cheating." He warned him, and Kylo gave him a confused look.

"It has to go red, black, red. Two of the same can't go next to each other. Remember?"

Kylo scoffed noiselessly, then pointed to the card that Poe had played earlier; a red queen, next to a…

Red King.

 _Oops._

"Well, uh that rule doesn't apply to the face cards." Poe bluffed.

Kylo rolled his eyes as if to say _liar._

Poe laughed, "It was an honest mistake, make your move it you want. Even though it is technically wrong." he commented.

When they finished the game (Kylo had won, even thought he cheated just a little) Poe reshuffled the cards.

"So what do you want to do now? Are you tired? Hungry?"

Kylo still had a hard time communicating with them about what he wanted, not because he couldn't but because he was too proud to ask from help. Poe found it was best just to flat out ask him, 80% of the time Kylo would give him an honest answer, and that was good enough for Poe.

Kylo shrugged, and then pointed to the small window.

"What?"

Kylo repeated the motion, pointing at the window again.

"You want to clean the windows?"

Kylo shook his head. He pointed to the window again, and then mouthed _go out._

Poe hesitated. He had been under strict instructions from Leia to watch her son closely and make sure no one hurt him, but she never said anything about keeping him in this small room.

"I don't see any harm in that, if that's what you want to do. But let me check in with my superior—your mother—she has the final say."

Kylo nodded and stared at the cards as Poe pulled out his tablet and taped a message out to Leia:

 **Poe: Ben is getting a little stir crazy and wants to know if we can take a walk.**

 **Leia: He'll have to stay confined to a wheelchair. If that's okay, I'll have a chair sent to the room. You can take him to the gardens on 5** **th** **deck, I'll be sure to clear it out for you. We can meet you there.**

Leia's reply was clinical, but also had a note of a mother missing her son, and wanting what's best for him.

"We can go to the gardens, but only if you agree to a wheelchair." Poe said

Kylo nodded his head, but did not seem pleased with this agreement.

Poe stood, and then offered a hand up. Kylo flinched a little bit and froze. Poe sighed, he had forgotten _again_ that Kylo didn't like to be touched. And was once again reminded that there was a lot to Kylo's story that he did not know.

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot, I didn't mean to scare you." Poe whispered softly. Kylo shrugged without looking him in the eye. He pushed himself up to standing by himself, and then motioned with his hand to the door.

"We have to wait for them to come get us. High security and all that." Poe explained.

Twenty minutes later Poe was pushing a slightly undignified Kylo down the hallway and to the garden on the 5th floor where Leia had agreed to meet them. It was completely silent, except for the click of Poe's boots and the quiet squeaking of the wheelchair.

Kylo remained stiff and quiet throughout the journey; he picked a hangnail on his left thumb and refused to look anyone in the eye.

When they reached the garden, Poe rolled the chair up to the largest koi pond and breathed in deeply. He had to admit that he liked being out of that tiny room, even if was just for a little bit.

"So today has been a better day?"

Poe jumped at the voice behind, he turned to see Leia standing behind him with Chewie standing behind her.

"Yes. I suppose so. As good as it can get." Poe answered.

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Kylo remained still while they talked, as if he were determined to become a statue. He stared straight forward and ignored Leia's greetings.

"Ben?" Leia asked, and then she put a hand on her shoulder. He flinched, but still refused to look at him.

Leia straightened, and Poe could see that she was battling for composure.

"Chewie, can you watch Ben for a moment, I want to talk to Poe." She said and Poe felt his heart sink. Was he in trouble? Was this not a good idea?

Leia looked at Poe, "Walk with me, for a minute. No one should see their mother cry." She confessed and then she strode off towards one of the paths. Poe jogged to keep up with her.

"General—Leia—wait. It's going to be okay." Poe said, reaching her side.

Leia sighed, "How can you say that? How can say that everything will be fine when my own son won't even look me in the eye? I thought he was getting better, I thought that him wanting to come outside meant that something had changed. But he hasn't. He's still Kylo Ren." Leia whispered in a brittle voice.

"With time, and effort that will change. I've come to learn that people change into two different ways; constant pushing and pressure or a near death experience. Hopefully Ben won't have the latter, but I think we are doing the best we can for him. He'll come around, I promise." Poe reassured her.

Leia just nodded.

"He and I played cards today. Double solitaire. Remember that game?" he asked

Leia nodded and smiled, "Han and I would play it for hours on long flights. I remember teaching you and Ben when you were little."

"It was fun, reminded me of old times." Poe said

"Yeah."

"He still wont let me touch him though." Poe whispered after a beat of silence.

"There's so much we don't know, he's changed so much and I don't know how to fix him. I miss my son, Poe."

Poe was silent for a minute, "There is a lot we don't know. Who knows what the First Order was doing behind closed doors. But we have to be grateful we didn't loose him completely. He's still here, and that's all the matters." he finally said, hoping that his words would reassure her.

Leia nodded, "It's-shhh did you hear that?"

She stopped mid sentence, she held up her hand and they looked at each other. Then somewhere from down the hallway they heard a scream.

888

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5 (UPDATED)

This is the updated chapter.

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Poe and Leia both looked at each other, and them immediately started sprinting towards the gardens where they had left Kylo with Chewie.

"It's Ben!" Leia shouted

"I thought Chewie was watching him!"

"Yeah, so did I!"

They rounded the corner, and saw three guards cornering Kylo with stun guns, shouting and yelling. The wheelchair was overturned, and tossed in the corner. Chewie was howling nonsense as the lights sparked and flickered. Poe suddenly felt the energy in the room change and knew what would happen next. Just as one of the guards reached to grab him, Kylo drew up his hands. Sparks flew and suddenly the men were ten feet from Kylo. Poe raced forward and did not miss the look of panic on Kylo's face before he turned and bolted from the room. _He's scared_ Poe thought, _he couldn't control it._

"Wait!" Poe shouted, running after him. He chased him down the long hallway and finally cornered him in a dead end.

Kylo held up his shaking hands defensively and stared at Poe. His eyes—both the brown one and the milky blue one—sparkled with both anger, and fear. He took on step back, and then another until back hit the wall.

"Kylo….Ben…please-." Poe started-

More sparks flew and Kylo winced away from them and pressed himself deeper into the corner. Poe stayed where he was, watching silently and trying to figure out what to do next. The only sounds were Kylo's gasps for air as he fought for control over his breathing, and the steady but faint sounds of the other down the hallway.

Kylo clutched his hair and slid down onto the floor. The air crackled with energy and Poe felt his hair stand on end. He took a step closer to him, and then knelt down on the floor so there were at eye level.

"It's going to be okay. You didn't hurt anyone" Poe said, trying to sound comforting. He scooted forward a half a foot towards him, waited a few seconds and then scooted another half foot.

"You are going to be okay. Just breath, it's all going to be okay." He repeated as he inched forward until he was in arms distance of him. Kylo flinched away, and Poe winced as he felt more sparks sizzle around him. Kylo flinched again, and continued to fight for breath.

Poe waited patiently, and soon he felt the electric energy fade away as Kylo's breathes came easier.

"There you go, just breathe. In and out. In and out. It's going to be okay. Just breathe." He said in a soft voice, hoping that he was helping him.

By this time, Leia and the team of medics had found them. Poe heard them rustling behind them. He held up his hand, indicating for them to wait and then he scooted closer and put a hand on Kylo's arm and for once, Kylo didn't flinch away.

Leia knelt down beside them and held out a syringe to Poe.

"It's a sedative." She said quietly.

Poe nodded, "K—Ben. Listen to me, the medics are here now. They are here to help you, okay?" he said.

Kylo didn't move, he continued to tremble and clutched his hair harder in his hands.

Poe and Leia exchanged looks; they couldn't administer the sedative until Kylo gave them access to his arm.

Suddenly, an idea came to Poe. He took the syringe out of Leia's hand.

"Sing to him." He said

"What?"

"Sing. One of those songs you sang to us as kids. Something, anything. Just get his attention." He said

Leia gave him an incredulous look, but after a few moments nodded her head. She leaned forward and gently put her hands on top of Kylo's. Quietly and patiently she uncurled his fingers from his hair and held them in her own. Kylo flinched slightly and tried to push away, the heels of his feet scarped against the floor as he tried to pull away from her but, Leia held on to his hands with a strong but gentle grip.

"Shh, love. Shhh, my darling." she whispered, and then she stared singing in a clear, high voice;

 _Out of my window looking in the night,_

 _I can see the barges flickering light._

 _Silently flows the river to the sea,_

 _As the barges go by silently._

 _Barges, I would like to go with you,_

 _I would like to sail the ocean blue._

 _Barges have you treasures in you hold,_

 _Do you fight with pirates brave and bold._

As Leia's softly voice flowed over them. Kylo fixed his eyes on his mother, staring at her as if her voice were his only lifeline, it was just the two of them now. Leia paused just quickly enough to give Poe a nod, and he quickly fixed the needle and gently poked it into Kylo's arm. Kylo jumped and cast him a half glare but his attention was quickly drawn back to his mother as she sang and held his hands. Slowly, Kylo's eyes started to close as the sedative took effect. Leia gathered her son up in her arms, putting his head against her chest she rocked him softly back and forth. Poe stared at them; a mother and child, separated for so long and now finally reunited.

Poe jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Han standing above him. Poe nodded and stood up, leaving Leia and Kylo on the ground.

Poe watched as Leia continued to rock her son back and forth, singing softly. She tucked a piece of stray hair behind Kylo's ear and kissed his forehead.

"Let's get him to bed." She said quietly, and then she easily scooped him up in her arms and stood up.

"He's light." Han mentioned

"Too light. I haven't done this since he was 12 years old." Leia replied.

Poe watched silently as Han walked over and gently rearranged Kylo's arms so they didn't hang out over his side. His hands lighted gently over the scars and Kylo winced softly in his sleep. Han immediately removed his hand and looked up at Leia.

"It's okay. Come on." She said, and she silently led them down the hallway towards the medical bay.

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When they reached the room, Leia gently deposited Kylo on the bed, but instead of tucking him in, she quietly undid the buttons on his shirt.

"Help me with the sleeves" she said

Han hesitated, "Leia-."

"It's time we found out why he won't let anyone touch him." She said, and gently worked the shirt off of Kylo.

Poe involuntarily gasped at what he saw; under the sleeves, Kylo's arms were riddled with bruises, cuts and scars. All of them were old, and in various stages of healing. There were scars and his stomach and torso as well, pink areas of skin where there had been burn marks and dark black bruises. The bruises and cuts continued down, well past his waistband.

Leia touched the bruises under his belly button softly, and then looked up at Han.

"Do you think he was-."

"It'll be hard to tell now, without a full exam." Han said

"Who?" Leia asked

"Probably someone in the First Order. It'll be impossible to tell who it was." Han replied

"Nothing like this ever happened to him before-."

"Yes it did." Han's voice was quiet, and full of sadness.

"What?" Leia asked

"It was a few weeks after you left when he was fifteen. Remember, the dishes?" Han said

Leia just nodded silently.

"He had been distant and I thought it was because of you leaving, but it wasn't. Some guys…men…had followed him home one night, but they didn't just beat him up badly, they assaulted him." Han told her.

"Assaulted? As in ra-."

"Don't say it, Leia. It was hard enough hearing my son say it. Not again. " Han winced and turned away. Leia stared at him.

"Han? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this a secret from me all these years?" she asked in a whisper.

"Because I didn't want to upset you. "

Leia sighed, and looked like she wanted to say more on that subject but didn't.

She paused, her eyes were glassy but her voice remained steady, "We know that Ben may have been assaulted while he was working for the First Order, and that he's suffering from post traumatic stress. Now that we know what it is, we can start treating him for it." She said.

Han nodded, then he walked back over to the bed.

"Turn him around. I want to see what's on his back." He said.

Poe gently helped turn Kylo over so that his back was facing up. He felt himself take a quick intake of breath. There half a dozen foot long scars going across Kylo's and dozens of more small ones.

Leia's breath hitched, "What caused this?" she asked.

"Whipping." Both Poe and Han answered at the same time.

Han examined the scars, "These are healed, but still fairly new, and there are fainter scars underneath them.

"Who do you think did it?"

Leia shook her head, "There's no way to know, not until he tells us himself." Her face fell a little, "and now he's never be able to."

Han put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "At least he' s out of there, at least he's safe with us and not back with them."

Leia nodded, she watched Kylo for a few moments, the only sound his heavy drugged breathing.

"Poe?" she said

"Yes?" Poe answered

"I'll stay here with him tonight. Go get some rest. We'll start again in the morning." She told him.

Poe nodded, "Of course."

Then he turned to leave. As he left he had a glimpse of Leia and Han holding each other in the in the dim light.

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Thank you for dealing with my crazy upload changes.

The song is Barges by the Girl Scouts

I am getting married in 28 days, so updates may be a little slow from here on out.

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Some self-harm triggers in the chapter, please read with care.

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Poe walked back to his room in a daze, the sight of Leia and Han hugging underneath the light burned into his eyes and no matter how hard he blinked he could not get rid of it. He opened up his room door and stepped in, feeling it swish closed behind him. But he didn't go further inside, or turn on the lights. He stood there frozen in the door, trying to comprehend what just happened. Flashes of the night streamed by in his minds eye. How could he be so stupid to think Kylo was ready to go outside? He had let his discomfort get the better of him. They should have stayed locked up in the room. Finally, Poe came to himself, shook his head and turned on the lights.

"Hell of a night." He said out loud to himself.

He walked over to his small sink, turned the facet on and splashed some cold water in his face

 _Big brown eyes, staring at him from the top of the stairs and Leia's voice saying "Come on down Ben, I'd like you to meet someone". Poe had his comic book in his hand, and was curious about this shy boy on the stairs. The Solos had just moved in next door to them, and Poe had seen Ben running around the front yard but was too shy to go over. It took a plate of cookies and a push from his own mother just to get him to go over. Leia had answered the door, and welcomed him inside with a smile. Poe took a step up and the stairs and the brown eyes shifted backwards. Poe took another, and another until he was halfway up and then he sat down and opened his book. He could feel Leia smiling at him. A few minutes later the brown eyes were two steps above him, Poe looked up and saw a young child looking down at him, his jet black hair covering his face, his small hands clutching his ankles as he stared._

 _"Is that superman?" he asked_

 _Poe smiled, but shook his head, "Aquaman."_

 _"What does Aquaman do?"_

 _"He fights crime with his special powers."_

 _"Can I see?"_

 _"Sure."_

Poe stopped what he was doing and stared at himself in the mirror. The memory of their first meeting still etched in his mind's eye. He had been nine, and Kylo-Ben-had been seven when they first met. Ben had been shy at first, but Poe had been determined to play with his new friend. Poe had forgotten their first meeting until now. Had they really been that little? After that first play date, they had become inseparable. Poe had become close with the Solos during those years and he had appreciated it. Things weren't so great for him at home then, he remembered. His parents fought, they would get drunk and throw things. Many times he would find himself curled up in the Solo's tree house, having escaped yet another argument. Ben would always find him there, baring hot chocolate and cookies prepared by Leia. They were like his second family, the Solos.

Poe sighed again and watched his breath fog up the mirror. How could he have forgotten those times so quickly? He shook his head, and moved from the sink to the shower. As he stripped off his clothes, he watched as more memories floated in his mind's eye.

 _Ben running to the edge of the dock with a pink flamingo floatie wrapped around his waist and huge rubber flippers. "Come on, Poe, hurry!" he shouted as he waited anxiously for Poe to hobble over in his own floatie and flippers._

 _"Ready?"_

 _"Only if we jump together"_

 _Ben held his hand and Poe took it. They jumped together and Poe didn't even mind the cold water because he was with Ben, his best friend._

The hot water brought Poe back to the present. The little boy he saw in his memory was long gone, hidden under layers of darkness and confusion. He longed to see that boy again, longed to play out in the sun with him. He let the hot water run over his hair and face As much as he liked the good times, he could remember the bad times too, when the force had awoken in Ben and then started to take over.

 _Knock knock knock_

 _"Ben?"_

 _Knock knock knock_

 _Poe watched helplessly as Han sighed and jiggled the doorknob again. It still was locked, just like it had been for the past half an hour. Poe had seen Ben first, in his bedroom mumbling to himself with his hair covering his eyes and a silver knife in his hands, red blood still gleaming brightly on the blade._

 _"It's the only way to make it stop." He had said in a thin, brittle whisper._

 _Poe had just stared._

 _"Please, please don't tell anyone." Ben had pleaded._

 _Poe had frozen, eyes fixed on the blade and on the damaged wrist both red beacons in the dark. The air crackled and popped with an unseen, unnatural force that scared Poe. He turned away from his friend and ran down the stares, screaming for Han to come quick. Ben had panicked, and that's when he locked both himself and the blade in the bathroom._

 _Mumbled words floated from the bathroom_

 _"Stop stop stop, I don't want to, please stop, stop stop stop." The mantra continued over Han's pleas and knocks. Finally, Han stopped knocking and turned to Poe._

 _"You did the right thing, coming for me." Han said, his eyes glistening in the dark hallway light._

 _"It's been like this almost every night, since his mother left. I just can't seem to get through to him." He whispered, leaning against the wall and looking up at the ceiling._

 _"I don't know what to do anymore."_

Poe sighed and made a grab for the shampoo, it fell off of his shelf and landed hard on his big toe. He gritted his teeth against the pain, bent down and picked it up. That had been right after Leia left Han the first time, when Ben was fifteen. Poe had been enlisted in the academy then, but had come home for that weekend to be with Han and Ben. The whole weekend had been them talking through a door to Ben, trying to coax him to come out so they could help him. Poe guess that that was around the time that Ben had been hurt—assaulted—by those men, the ones Han had spoken about in the Kylo's room. Poe had not known about it before, there was so much he didn't know. Poe rinsed out the shampoo and grabbed the conditioner. That night they hadn't known what was happening with Ben, they didn't understand the force, or what powers he had. Han had been struggling then, with Leia gone and Ben was slowly changing. There were times Poe would come home, and visit the Solos only to be turned away by Han, telling him to come back another time. He remembered the last time he saw Ben; snow was falling outside and he had gone over to see Ben, to show him the badge he had won, hoping, praying this _this time_ would be different. That was the night they realized how much trouble Ben was in with the dark side of the force..

 _"Stay away from me!" Ben shouted, backed into the corner, a mere shadow in the darkened room._

 _"Ben. It's okay. You can trust me." Poe took a step forward and felt himself being stopped by an unseen force_

 _"Stop. Don't come any closer."_

 _"Ben, please-."_

 _The unseen force whipped through the room, causing the books to fall off their shelves, the portraits to fall from their hangers, the clock crashed down to the floor and they both jumped at the sound._

 _"I don't want to hurt you." Ben pleaded_

 _"You are not going to hurt me." Poe answered_

 _"I can't control it."_

 _"Yes you can."_

 _"I can't-"_

 _"Just try-." Poe took a few steps forward towards his friend._

 _"Stay back! Don't come any closer. Back! I said stay back!" and Poe felt himself lift off the ground and go crashing into the wall, and everything went black._

Poe turned the shower off. That had been when he was almost seventeen, the last memory of Ben he had before they decided to start Jedi training with Luke Skywalker. He remembered he had gone over to Ben's house, but only found Han sitting in the darkening living room with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

 _"Ben's been sent away. He's going to train to be a Jedi with his Uncle." Han explained to him. Poe didn't understand, he didn't want his friend to leave. He had been 17 and Ben had been 15._

 _"Why did he have to go?" he asked_

 _"He is strong with the force and needs to be trained. He has to learn to control his powers, it's the only way."_

 _"Couldn't I be strong with the force too?" Poe asked, looking up hopefully, despite all they had gone through, Poe still thought of Ben as a friend, and he wanted to be with him._

 _Han shook his head sadly, "It's something you're born with, Poe."_

 _"Oh, does this have something to do with the last time I visited? Because he didn't mean to hurt me, he was scared." Poe said._

 _"I know. It's what's best, for now."_

 _"When will he be back?" Poe asked_

 _"Soon. You'll see him again before you know it, and he'll be better. More in control than he has been. He won't hurt you again."_

Poe sighed, he never saw Ben again. Until just a few months ago when he had been captured by the first order and came face to face with Kylo Ren. He highly doubted that Kylo remembered who he was though; it had been a long time ago.

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Thank you for reading, next chapter should be up soon. 24 more days until the wedding, updates may be a bit sporadic. I'll try my best though.

If interested, please follow me on tumblr! Songsofpsyche13


	7. Chapter 7

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The next morning Poe met with Leia before he went to Kylo's room. He had slept fitfully, his dreams burdened with a grinning child who had dark brown eyes and jet black hair. Leia was sitting in her office, drinking coffee and staring at a report on her desk.

"The surgeons made no report of the scars." She said "No report at all. Nothing. Not a god damn thing." She mumbled and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Leia. If I had known-." Poe started

"It's not your fault. None of it was your fault." She said

Poe just nodded.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like you to sit with him again today." She said

Poe nodded again.

"Chewie said that the guard provoked Ben yesterday, while he was sitting in the chair. He had tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen. That's what set him off." Leia said, looking up at Poe.

Poe just nodded.

"I'm going to have them put camera droids, in the room and in the hallway. If someone is harassing Ben after hours I want to know about it." She said.

Poe nodded again, "Do you really think someone is hurting him here on the ship?" he asked

Leia shrugged, "How else would have those cuts gotten there?"

"You're right." Poe answered

"I made an appointment at the lab for a CET and full body scan today at 2:30. I want to see if there are any other hidden injuries, since the surgeons failed to report on the scars, who knows what else they missed." Leia told him, and Poe could detect a tone of bitterness in her voice.

"I'll make sure he gets there." he replied

Leia smiled, "Thank you, Poe. I know this must be hard on you, but the quicker he heals the sooner we will have our Ben back."

Poe nodded, but then paused. "He will come back, right?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Leia looked up at him, her eyes shiny. "He has to."

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Poe meandered slowly down the hall towards the medical bay. After yesterday's events, he was not looking forward to spending another day with Kylo. Yes, he wanted him to get better, but he also had not forgotten that a few weeks ago the same man he was now trying to save had tortured him. It was a complicated feeling; he missed Ben and wanted his childhood friend back, but at the same time Kylo Ren had taken over so much that he wasn't sure if Ben was still under all the layers of darkness and fear. He hated this feeling, of being helpless. He honestly had no idea what to do to help Kylo-Ben-. What could he do? He was just a man.

He walked down another hallway, the ship was eerily empty. He continued to walk, images of his childhood flashing through his head until-

"Ouch! Hey! You okay?" A voice brought him back. Poe looked up and realized he had hurtled full force into Finn.

Poe tried to smile, "Hey Finn."

"Hey yourself. How ya doing? Feeling better?" Finn asked

"I could ask the same for you." Poe replied

Finn shrugged, "I'm a fast healer. I'm going down to the café for a cup of coffee. Join me?" he asked

Poe shrugged his shoulder, wishing he could go sit with his friend, instead of watching Kylo Ren.

He shook his head, "Leia asked me to check in on Kylo Ren—he's here, you know."

Finn nodded, his face darkening at the name, "Yeah. I heard. Are you going to the medical bay? I'll walk partway with you."

"Sure."

As they walked, Poe found himself tell Finn everything, and Finn was an exceptional listener—he gasped at all the right parts. He was silent when Poe finished, and Poe saw him trace his fingers over something on his wrist.

"He had whipping scars, on his back." Poe finally said.

They had paused by a window, and Poe gazed out into the dark space infront of them.

Finn nodded.

"Was that common, in the First Order?" Poe asked.

Finn nodded again, his dark eyes betraying his pain.

"Whipping wasn't uncommon among the soldiers, if they stepped out of line. I never realized the same treatment applied to Kylo Ren. I always thought he was above us, but I guess not. As it turns out, I still have no pity for him. He destroyed planets, Poe. Billions of people lost their lives to that man. I just….don't understand why we are helping him." He finished, looking up at Poe.

Poe nodded. He understood where Finn was coming from—Finn had seen the First Order first hand, has seen horrors that could not be undone.

"He's Leia's son. She thinks she can bring him over to the light side." Poe replied.

Finn nodded, "I still don't understand it, but I will support you with whatever you need. You are a very brave man. Kylo Ren was unpleasant when he was in a good mood, I cant imagine what he's like now."

"We've had our rough patches—Hey listen-have you heard any talk amongst the other soldiers about anyone going in after hours and hurting—teasing—Kylo?" Poe asked, looking at Finn.

Finn furrowed his eyebrows, thinking deeply.

"No, no I havnt but I will keep an ear out for you, if you'd like."

"Thanks"

Poe smiled and gripped Finn on the shoulder, he really was a good guy. They stopped walking infront of the doors to the medical bay.

"Well, this is me." Poe said, motioning towards the white hallway.

"Good luck, and may the force be with you." Finn said, giving Poe a little bow and slight smile.

"Thanks man."

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When Poe entered the Kylo's small room he felt his heart give a small leap of panic; Kylo was not in the bed, the sheets and pillow were balled up in a bunch at the end of the bed, but Kylo was no where to be seen. Poe looked around for a few seconds, battling panic, and then he heard a small sniff and bent down. Kylo was not in his bed, but underneath it wedged into the corner between the wall and the heart rate monitor. Poe kneeled down so that he was at eye level with him, and then sat crossed legged on the floor. Kylo stared at him, eyes glinting in the overhead light. The only sounds were the quiet wooosh of the air and the constant _beep beep beep_ of the monitor. Poe wracked his mind, trying to figure out what he should say.

"What happened yesterday….." Poe began and then trailed off.

Kylo continued to stare at him.

"Do you want to talk-." Poe heard the scoff even before he finished his sentence.

"Right then….ummm….I have this, to make things easier. If you wan….." Poe said, pulling out a notebook and pencil from his bag, he held it up to show Kylo.

Kylo narrowed his eyes, but did not reach for the notebook. He crossed his arms over his chest as if to say _I'd rather die than be forced to resort to writing notes like a school girl._

Poe shrugged, "Alright then. Have it your way, if you want to sit under there and mope all day then be my guest."

Poe did not miss the eye role.

They sat there in silence, staring at one another, and then at the other things in the room.

Suddenly the image of a young boy on the stairs staring at him with the same big brown eyes popped up in Poe's head and an idea came to him. Poe reached back into his bag, and pulled out his tablet. Making sure Kylo could see it; he brought up his digital version of _Aquaman #7; Return of the Space Monster_ and slowly started flipping through the pages. After a few minutes of silence, Poe saw a slight shadow appear above his tablet. He looked up and saw that Kylo had inched forward out of his hiding spot and was curiously looking down at the digital comic.

Poe smiled, "Do you remember Aquaman?" he asked

Kylo remained still and silent.

Poe turned his tablet around so that it was facing Kylo.

"Aquaman just discovered the space monster's secret cave." He updated him.

Kylo nodded slightly, and Poe saw his eye reading the words on the comic.

"I bet you didn't get to read many comics in the First Order." Poe commented

Kylo shrugged his shoulders, and then looked up at Poe _I'd forgotten about Aquaman until this very moment._

Poe smiled, and then handed him the tablet, "Go ahead." He encouraged him. Kylo took the tablet and smiled, and then scooted back into his corner, face a light from the glow of the tablet. Poe thought he saw a small smile appear on Kylo's face and he could feel that today was going to be a better day than yesterday.

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Sorry this one was a little short, there will be another chapter up soon.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


	8. Chapter 8

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As the day continued, Poe began to see more and more of his old friend Ben in Kylo Ren, and Poe was pretty sure Kylo was starting to see it too. The face under the mask of Kylo Ren was still vulnerable, but also strong and determined. Little by little Poe was able to see the man underneath it emerging and it brought him hope that Ben could be returned.

After an hour of the comic book, Kylo was showing signs of boredom so Poe pulled out another item in his bag that he had memoires of doing when they were little; a puzzle, 150 pieces of a meadow with horses.

"Do you remember when we tried to do that 1000 piece puzzle?" Poe asked

Kylo shrugged

"Eventially we got bored of it so we decided to see what would happen if we dropped the pieces down the heating vent." Poe continued with a smile. Poe remembered that night Han had to crawl through the vents and gather the pieces before the burst into flame. Poe had thought it was hilarious, Leia not so much.

Kylo shrugged, then opened his mouth. His lips formed the words noiselessly as he tried to speak. His eyes widened in surprise and then he shook his head. Poe quietly tapped the notebook he had brought, but Kylo ignored it.

"You alright? I know it's an adjustment" Poe asked

Kylo just shrugged again.

"Back when I was based on the Corellia, I had a roommate who was born deaf. He communicated with signs he formed with his hands." Poe said, and he say Kylo's eyes light up for the first time since he had been taken by the rebels.

"You'd like to learn?" he asked

Kylo nodded again.

"That's great. We can learn together. Leia and Han too." Poe said. Kylo shrugged, but Poe could see something in him, something was defrosting—then Poe's watch alarm went off causing Kylo to jump and breaking the moment.

"It's quarter to three, Leia scheduled a couple of scans for you. Don't worry, you'll be fine—but we should get going." Poe said, motioning towards the wheelchair. Kylo froze, eyes looking at it.

"I know you don't like it, but it's protocol." Poe explained, standing up. He waited patiently for Kylo to scoot out from under the bed and stand up, pulling his grey sleeves over his hands and crossing his arms over his chest. He flinched slightly away from Poe, and then walked over and sat in the chair.

Poe opened the door and began pushing down the hallway towards the scan room.

Right before they entered the scan room, Kylo slammed his hands down on the wheels of the chair, preventing them from going inside.

"Ben?" Poe asked, he walked around to the front of the chair.

"What's wrong?" he asked

Kylo shook his head, not looking him in the eye.

Poe looked from Kylo, to the scanning room and back again.

"It's going to be okay. Painless, I promise." He said, and then he felt a mild static in the air. It was happening again, Kylo was letting the fear over take him.

"Oh ummmm, I betcha wont guess this one; a box without hinges key or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid. What is it?" Poe asked, remembering another riddle from their youth.

The static stopped growing, it seemed to be levitating in one place and Poe held his breath.

"Just think about that, not the scanner room. It will be okay." Poe said and after a few more moments of stillness and static, Kylo released his grip on the wheels and Poe walked the wheelchair inside.

The scanner room was a starch white color, the scanner itself looked like a large looming beached whale sitting in the middle of the room.

"See, it's not so bad." Poe said, even though the clinical feel to it was making _him_ uneasy. Kylo scoffed and blew some of his bangs off of his face.

"How's that riddle coming?" Poe asked gently

Kylo just shrugged.

A few moments of silence passed and then the doors opened again, making Kylo jump but it was just Leia and the lab technician. Poe turned the chair around so Kylo could see who it was.

Leia smiled when she saw Poe, but Poe knew she could also feel the static that was still hanging in the air.

"How are we doing?" she asked

Poe shrugged, "A little nervous but I think it will be okay." He answered

Leia nodded, "Alright. Let's get started. Ben, I can help you get dressed." She held up a green smock, meant to be worn while inside the scanner.

"It's so the scanner wont pick up on your clothes, that's all." She quickly added.

Kylo nodded, but seemed hesitant to change. Suddenly, the electricity in the air shifted, growing stronger. Poe felt the hair on his arms rise up. Kylo pulled his grey sweatshirt tighter over his arms and crossed his arms over his chest. He eyed the light green gown, that had short sleeves with distrust and refused to move.

 _He's hiding something_ Poe thought, and then he berated himself for not thinking about it sooner. He had spent all day with him; he should have checked his arms after he saw what happened the night before.

"Let me see your arms." He said, and both Kylo and Leia looked at him.

"Poe-." Leia started, but Poe shook his head, cutting her off.

"I just want to see something, please?" he asked again and this time he reached over and touched Kylo's forearm. Kylo flinched away from him, but then let him pull his arm away from his chest. Poe pulled the sleeve pulled up over his wrist revealing what looked like dark bruising and….blood?

"What's that?" Leia asked immediately, reaching for the wrist.

Kylo flinched again and, pulled his arm out of Poe's grasp, he shook his head and mouthed "it's nothing." he put his feet on the ground and scooted the chair backwards, away from them. The lights flickered dangerously and Poe saw sparks fly as Kylo scooted away from them.

"No, let me see Kylo, please?" Poe asked, reaching for the wrist again. This time the flinch was followed by a rough shove as Kylo scrambled up out of the chair and charged towards him.

" _Kylo._ Stop, just let me-whoa-"

Poe managed to block the swing, forcing Kylo to take another step backwards, right into lab technician who grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms around his chest. Kylo gasped and suddenly the technician was ten feet away from them, flying in an arch of sparks he hit the wall with a loud thud.

"Make yourself useful, go get us a med kit." Poe shouted at the now quite alarmed technician. He nodded and darted out of the room.

"Stop! Ben, please!" Leia shouted, she tried to get closer but Kylo swung a leg towards her and she jumped back. Kylo made a mad dash towards the door, he tripped over his own feet and went crashing down.

"Kylo!" Poe shouted, rushing towards him, feeling the unsettling electric charge fill the air. Kylo sat up slowly, and pulled his legs into his chest. He kept his head bowed, and didn't meet anyone's eye as Poe slowly knelt next to Kylo, and he heard Leia come up behind him.

"Kylo?" he asked, but Kylo remained still and silent until-

"Let us see, Ben." Poe asked gently, and when Kylo didn't move, Poe reached towards the arm and Kylo allowed him to turn it over and look at the wrist. It was only when he tried to lift up the grey fabric of the shirt, to see what was underneath did Kylo react. He hissed softly and tried to pull his arm away, but Poe held on.

"Its alright." Poe said, and he felt Kylo's arm tremble as he pushed the sleeve over his forearm. He tried to contain his gasp, as he saw what he had seen earlier: dark patches of dried blood from deep diagonal cuts that went up and down his arm, fresh cuts mixed with the old ones.

"Kylo...Kylo why didn't you say anything?" Poe asked quietly, Kylo gave him a look and scoffed noiselessly _this is nothing, I'm fine._

"No. No this is not anything, and you are not fine. What-who did this to you?" Poe asked. Kylo remained silent and still, his dark hair fell down over his face and he jerked his arm out of Poe's grip and hugged it to his chest.

Poe turned to Leia, "Those were fresh cuts-not ones that we saw last night but new ones."

Leia nodded silently, eyes wide and glassy.

Then the tech came over with the first aid kit in his hands, he handed it to Leia and she knelt down next to them.

"The first aid kit is here, let us fix your arms"

Kylo allowed Leia to pull his arms from his chest and examine them. Poe watched silently as Leia meticulously cleaned every new diagonal cut on both arms. When she was finished, she packed up the kit and then stood up.

"Let's do the scan tomorrow. It can wait. Poe, let's get him back to the room." She said, motioning for the wheelchair. Poe nodded and turned towards Kylo, who had pulled his grey sleeves down back over the white bandages and was glaring at him. _Nothing happened. I am fine. I will be fine._ Electricity sparkled and cracked around them and the lights flickered above them softly. Then Kylo finally reached out to Poe, he gripped Poe's hand until his knuckles turned white and his arm shook,

"There's nothing else wrong. I'm fine." Kylo mouthed trembled in his arm and the sparks in the air gave away his claim.

Poe swallowed, but nodded.

"All right." he said.

888

Leia seemed determined to get to the room before them. Poe watched as she strode inside, looked under the mattress, throwing the sheets on the floor and shaking them, a brittle sense of disharmony in her movements.

When the sheets were well shaken out, and the entire room searched, Leia finally looked over at Poe and Kylo, who were watching her silently. Leia quietly put the sheets back on the bed, rearranging the leather restraints so they laid on top of the sheets.

"Come on, strap him in." she said, her eyes blazing with an unknown fury.

"What?"

"Just do it."

When Poe didn't move, Leia reached for Kylo and pulled him up out of the chair and onto the bed.

"Leia- please."

Kylo resisted her a little, but (after a death glare from Leia) allowed her to secure the restraints around him wrists and ankles.

After Leia was done she stormed out angrily. Poe gave Kylo an apologetic look and then ran after her.

"Leia, Leia wait!" he shouted

She stopped in the hallway and turned to face him, "What?"

"What was that, back there? What happened? It wasn't like you." Poe asked

Leia sighed and was silent for a few seconds, her arms trembled as she crossed them over her chest

"Those cuts weren't there last night." She stated

"I know-."

"We didn't put his in the restraints last night because he was drugged, I thought maybe we could trust him not to cause any harm to himself but I was wrong. He's doing it, Poe. He's cutting on himself again and we didn't catch it in time. I don't think I can watch my son destroy himself again. I cant—I wont-he can't start it again…." She rambled, walking back and forth quickly in one small spot, her voice trembling with rage and a little bit of panic.

"Leia—Leia stop. Calm down. It's going to be ok-."

"No. No Poe it's not going to be okay. Things just keep getting worse. First yesterday and now today… I just want to see Ben again, I just want my son back. Why is everything so fucked up? Why? Why wont he get better why-."

"Stop. Leia, stop. Please it's going to be okay." Poe said again. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, making her stop in mid pace. She glared up at him-the same glare that Kylo had.

"Everything is going to be fine. We can fix this. Don't get up hope." He told her, his eyes bouncing back and forth between hers.

"Take a few deep breaths. We can work this out. Now, what do you want to do. Do you want to go back into the room with Ky- Ben or do you want to take a break?"

Leia sighed and Poe could tell she was conflicted—she wanted to be with her son, to help him get better but she was also exhausted.

"Lets take a break. I will call Han—or Chewie—or Finn and have someone watch him, them you and I can go get a cup of coffee." Poe decided for them.

Leia just nodded and took in a shaky breath, and then another one.

"Take in a breath, count to 8 and release it." Poe suggested

Leia breathed in deeply as Poe contacted Han on his tablet. His fingers trembled over they keypad, never before had he seen Leia so unhinged. It made him a little nervous, seeing her so frazzled. They waited out in the hallway until Han arrived, Poe sent Leia down to the café while he quickly filled Han in on what happened.

Han frowned when Poe told him about the fresh cuts, but then nodded. "I'll sit with him. I agree with you, she needs a break. I think we will all be relieved when we reach the base sight and she is reunited with her brother." He said

Poe nodded, he knew little of Rei's mission to find Luke but what he did know was that both of them were waiting for their arrival at the Rebellion's Base camp.

"Few more days, and we will be there." Poe answered and gave Han a thin smile for heading down the hallway after Leia.

888

Leia's hands trembled as she lifted her steaming mug of tea up to her mouth. She blew at the steam for a moment, decided it was too hot and set it back down again.

"The cutting started before I left. Maybe it was one of the reasons I did—I'm not sure anymore. I just couldn't stand to watch him self destruct like that. It scared me and I couldn't handle it." She said solemnly, not looking Poe in the eye.

Poe stared at her, he had always thought of Leia as someone who never let fear overcome her, but looking at her now all he saw was a mother scared of being helpless.

"Leia, there's no shame in-."

"I was never ashamed, I just-I never was able-I didn't know how to help. I think that's what bothered me the most. And Han was oblivious, I knew I never could talks to him about it." She said

Poe just nodded, "I saw it too, right before he started training with Luke. But it was the dark side of the force, it was controlling him, it _wasn't_ Ben. That's what I kept telling myself, that the person I was watching wasn't Ben, it was another being, a dark being with lots of power that was controlling him. I knew he was still in there though, always fighting. He's strong, Leia. He wants to win this. I know he will." Poe told her, hoping that what he said was making sense.

"I miss him, Poe. So much."

"I know"

"You think it was him—the one who did it?" Poe asked

Leia looked up at him, "Who else would it be? No one has access to that room except for me and-."

Suddenly she broke off, her face frozen in mid thought, "The security-the cameras do you think we could watch—maybe—no…. _no…._ they wouldn't dare…..not…." she broke off again and stood up.

"I have to go." She said, and then started walking briskly towards the door.

Poe sighed, put down his coffee and ran after her.

888

Sorry for the cliffhanger, you will know soon. Thank you for reading and please review!


	9. -)

Thorin Oakenshield glared from across the table at Kylo Ren, who was reading his script and hogging all three bottles of wine. He was in quite a bad mood, mainly because it had been 8 whole months since he had been given lines and he was still stuck at the damn foot of the mountain. He was never going to make it to Erebor on time now! Meanwhile, this _dandy_ Kylo person with his stupid black robe and glowly-shiny-sword was getting all of _her_ attention.

 _Her_ was the Author. SongsofPsyche1945. Not that he was complaining, she had given them quite a nice set up. The Muse House was just a little crowded this weekend because of the annual April Fool's Joke and something else that he had forgotten…what was it?

Thorin quite impressed that she even had time to write. She had been busy for the last year and a half planning a wedding and all of that. And the wedding had been beautiful. All of the fandoms she wrote for had been invited. Thorin had finally met the lovely Leia Solo and Chewbacca and-

Suddenly there was a high pitched twitter and Thorin felt his heart sink alittle. _Oh no, not those damn Disney princesses again-_

LET IT GO! LET IT GO! CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE!

Elsa, Queen of Arendale strode into the kitchen in her shining blue dress and icy hair. She and Anna were ALWAYS singing. It drove him crazy.

Thorin couldn't be too annoyed though, for tonight was the biggest even of the whole season: The SongofPsyche 10th Anniversary Fanfiction Bonanza! It was in honor of SongofPsyche's 25th birthday (which was on March 28th), and to celebrate her ten year anniversary in writing fanfiction. She was going to give out awards for best acting, read some great madlibs and most importantly, thank her fans with a special surprise. Everyone was invited, even the characters from the more obscure fanfictions, like Xenomorph from the first one that she had ever written, all the way back in highschool when she had first discovered fanfiction. Thorin pulled out the program for tonight to see when he would be onstage and read:

SongofPsyche 10th Anniversary Fanfiction Madlib Bonanza!

April 1st 2016

Awards

Madlibs:

I'll Never Leave You Behind read by Amanda Ripley

Sitting Tall read by Thorin Oakenshield

Under the Mask read by Poe Dameron

Fan Devotion Ceremony

Closing

Thorin smiled, he always enjoyed the-.

"Thorin! Thorin Oakenshield!" a voice shouted

Thorin groaned.

"What?"

A stressed looking stage hand with a headset came running into the kitchen.

"I have the script for tonight." he said He ruffled through one of his folders labeled "MADLIBS 2016" and handed him a piece of paper.

"Best read it before hand, so you know what to expect." The stage hand warned handing him the paper and then taking off back into the staging area. Thorin took the paper and smiled as he read the title.

SITTING TALL MADLIB

READER: THORIN OAKENSHIELD

"Master Tiger Moon?"

Master Tiger Moon's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of his brother. Meowie Mcsnorkles had rolled over to him, and was looking up at him with big brown eyes that were hot and goopy.

"Master Tiger Moon. I cannot go on for much longer. I…it feels like I've been punched by a one eyed baby from Mongolia…look." he yodeled, and he opened up his elbows to show several bloodied SAT scores and swollen fingers.

Master Tiger Moon knelt down next to Meowie Mcsnorkles, and examined the elbows.

"Meowie Mcsnorkles. Why didn't you say anything?" he whispered darkly as if possessed by a taco eating demon.

Meowie Mcsnorkles shrugged. "Darth Panini, he's changed. I didn't want to madden him further." he whispered.

"I know. Let's get you to Chewbacca, he'll patch you up." Master Tiger Moon yodeled, standing and putting his elbows of the taco handles.

"Is it alright if I—."

"Yes. Go ahead. I cant do it anyway." Meowie Mcsnorkles sang in a high soprano that made all the birds in the area drop dead from the shear shrillness of his voice. Master Tiger Moon knew he loved being shimmied by anybody. It made him feel vulnerable. Master Tiger Moon rolled his brother over to Chewbacca, who was using a rock to widen his sippy-straw.

"Chewbacca?"

"Eh?"

"Meowie Mcsnorkles's hurt—."

"What?"

"Meowie Mcsnorkles he's—."

"You're going to have to speak up, ye old choo choo train." Chewbacca yodeled, putting his sippy-straw to his ear and staring intently at Master Tiger Moon.

"Meowie Mcsnorkles has SAT scores on his elbows—-."

"Meowie Mcsnorkles's got marijuana on his developmentally appropriate material for 5th-6th graders? Well good for him." Chewbacca yodeled, and then he went back to stabbing his sippy-straw with the rock.

Meowie Mcsnorkles looked up at Master Tiger Moon and mouthed "marijuana on my developmentally appropriate material for 5th-6th graders?"

Master Tiger Moon smiled and shook his head, and tapped Chewbacca on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Um, Chewbacca. Master Tiger Moon here, again."

"Master Tiger Moon! Good to see you, ye old choo choo train!"

"Yes. I'm here with Meowie Mcsnorkles—."

"You want to drink some hot candle wax? Well, ye old choo choo train I usually don't just give out hot candle wax to every young'n I see but if you insist—-."

"No. No hot candle wax for me! Meowie Mcsnorkles has SAT scores on his elbows! Do you have something to help him?!" Master Tiger Moon practically shouted, pointing to Meowie Mcsnorkles and then his elbows.

"SAT scores on his elbows? Why didn't you just say so! I have something right here that will help in a jiffy!" he yodeled, pulling his cactus over and digging through it. Meowie Mcsnorkles was trying so hard not to laugh about Master Tiger Moon's hot candle wax that Chewbacca had to grab his elbows to hold them still.

"Stay still, ye old choo choo train. What's so funny anyway? What are you two jabbering about?" he whispered darkly as if possessed by a taco eating chinese demon as he tabbed the ointment on Meowie Mcsnorkles's palms and then wrapping them with cloth bandages.

"There ya go. Just be gentle with them for a few days and you will be good as new. Come back to me later tonight and I will change the bandages for you." he yodeled, patting Meowie Mcsnorkles's elbows and smiling up at the both of them.

"Thank you, Chewbacca." Master Tiger Moon yodeled

"Oh wait. Master Tiger Moon. I have something for you…I was waiting to drink it until we were actually inside the Deviled Egg Festival but I wouldn't mind pulling it out now." he yodeled as he pulled out a bottle of hot candle wax.

This gesture caused Meowie Mcsnorkles to break out into laughing hysterics.

Master Tiger Moon smiled, "No thank you, Chewbacca. Save it for the Deviled Egg Festival."

Chewbacca just shook his head and smiled.

"I will never understand you younglings." he sang in a high soprano voice that made all the birds in the area drop dead from the shear shrillness of his voice, waving them off.

Master Tiger Moon took this as a cue to leave, and he shimmied Meowie Mcsnorkles back towards their spot around the now burning fire.

"We should talk to Chewbacca more. He's quite entertaining." Meowie Mcsnorkles yodeled with a mischievous smile.

Master Tiger Moon laughed, but then stopped when he realized that Meowie Mcsnorkles was staring at him.

"What?" he whispered darkly as if possessed by a taco eating demon.

"You are laughing. I don't think I've ever seen you laugh before."

"I don't think I've ever been offered hot candle wax before." Master Tiger Moon answered

"I like it. You should do it more."

"Do what? Drink hot candle wax?"

"No, silly. Laugh."

Master Tiger Moon looked down at his brother and smiled.

"Okay, I'll try."

END

Thorin choked on his wine, Darth Panini? Developmentally appropriate material for 5th-6th graders? These madlibs always got to him. He was surprised to see that Seductress Tiger Moon had been bumped up to Master. Fili must have done well this year. Kili on the other hand, Meowie Mcsnorkles. Wow. Must have something to do with him always acting like a cat when he wasn't on stage. Thorin shrugged and went back to drinking his wine.

The next thing Thorin knew was that he was being shuffled into the theater for the beginning of the show by his two nephews, Fili and Kili (Thorin was still grinning at the madlibs). They sat his down at his table, chatting about the show. They were sitting at the Main Characters Table, a high honor in the House of Muse. Thorin smiled at his co-stars: Fili, Kili, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Aragorn, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin and one other man he didn't know.

The man stood up nervously and shook his hand, "Phil Dunphy. I'm new this year." He explained. Then he pointed to another table, "My families over there, but since I'm preforming tonight I get to sit here. Haha suckers!" and then he took a selfie with his iphone. Thorin rolled his eyes, he didn't get all this technology, iphones, macbooks and such. He liked his swords and his beards. Nothing more.

Soon the lights dimed, and a spotlight shown on stage lighting up an empty microphone stand. The music started, the curtains opened and out came the lovely SongsofPsyche dressed in a sparkling black dress. She smiled and waved at the crowd. Everyone stood up, whooping and clapping for the author.

She waited for the clapping to stop, and then she smiled lovingly at them.

"Welcome my beloved characters to my Ten Year Anniversary Bonanza!" she said into the microphone, and everyone clapped again.

"Thank you so much for being here tonight, it is such an honor to have you as my characters. Even though sometimes I treat you horribly in the stories." She said, and then laughed.

Everyone laughed with her. It wasn't personal, it was just acting.

She smiled at them, "Thank you all for being here. I know this year has been crazy with the wedding and the new Star Wars movie coming out. I really wish I could write all the time, but as always, real life prevails. Anyway, we have a great show for you tonight, and we are going to start it off with the Award Ceremony and then move on to some amazing madlibs! Let's get this party started!"

Everyone clapped, and then two stage hands rolled out a table loaded with gold trophies.

"So" Songsofpsyche said, "After ten years of writing, I would like to reward my amazing characters for all the hard work that they have done—and for putting up with all the crazy things I make them do. So, with that, our first award for Most Flexible Character goes to Mr. Bilbo Baggins for "An Unexpected Proposal!" she said, and everyone clapped. Bilbo Baggins, turning bright red quickly went up to the stage and accepted his award.

The rest of the awards are as follows (or else this will be a 6000000 word piece and all of you would kill me for not writing this much in the actual stories).

Best Original Character: Kate from Hangover Stories

Best Acting in a Story: Fili from Sitting Tall

Best Awkward Acting in Romance Scene: Thorin Oakenshield, Unexpected Proposal

Best Acting in Horror: The Dwarf Company, From Beneath it Devours

Best Acting in Drama: Phil Dunphy, We Are Strong

Most Developed Character: Kylo Ren, Under the Mask

Most Improved Character: Phil Winnick, Broken Not Bent

And last but not least,

For the Actor Who Has Had to Deal With The Most Drama and Came Out With a Smiling Face: Kili, Sitting Tall

After all the applause died down, and the last person said their thank yous, SongsofPsyche got back on the stage.

" Wasn't that wonderful? Thank you everyone for being the best characters you can be! Now I would like to invite Ms. Amanda Ripley to the stage to read from the first story I ever read! Now, this one took a lot of editing because it was absolutely terrible, but I think the Madlibs actually improved it!" she laughed. Thorin laughed with her and remembered the humorous script he had gotten where his name had been autocorrect to Thorn Oak Tree.

Amanda Ripley smiled and walked up to the stage. She was followed by Clive, her friend and co-worker who also just happened to be a Xenomorph. He roared loudly and stomped around the stage, giving SongsofPsyche a huge hug before sitting down and chasing his long tail.

Amanda laughed, and then started reading;

"Catwoman enters though the trap door, she finds herself in a small room, equipped with a crockpot, paintings of paperclips, a couple forklifts, a rack of torture devices and a small video monitor. Spooter Man bolts the trap door and quickly turns the lamps on, their glow making the room feel homier.

"Spooter Man, what's going on?" Catwoman asks, but he only shhs her and walks over the to video monitor and turns it on.

Catwoman sees Spooter Man's office, the room they were just in. She looks longlingly at her bag, wishing that she had brought it with her. Then, she sees movement; a Shark Avalanche, with a round pointed head, sharp pink teeth, mechanical looking body and hands, and a long blade-like tail. It stands about 5 feet tall and is drooling. Catwoman can't see any eyes, but she is sure that it is peering though the window, then its head turns in the direction of the camera and Catwoman shudders.

"It's like it's looking right at me" she thinks.

She takes a couple steps back and steps into Spooter Man, who pats her shoulder reassuringly and motions that they were safe. Catwoman nods and turns away from the screen. Suddenly, a door next to the fridge opens, making Catwoman jump. She turns around and sees Professor I. C. Weiner, another teacher. Spooter Man sees him and nods at him, but Professor I. C. Weiner looks sullen.

"They took him, after killing off about ten people, another one took him, they got Bradley Cooper." he whispers as if possessed by a toaster wielding PE teacher, and Catwoman's heart drops.

"What?" Spooter Man asks, panic in his voice.

"They, it took him, one got him and dragged him off, down though one of the shafts, i tried to save him, but it was too strong." Professor I. C. Weiner whispers as if possessed by a toaster wielding PE teacher, sitting down in one of the chairs at the table.

Catwoman listens, hardly believing what she was hearing, that thing, took Bradley Cooper. Her beloved Bradley Cooper. Why hadn't she talked to him?

She sits on the couch, "They never told us about huge man eating books modified to accumulate the 2016 Common Core requirements when they told us were being transferred here" she thought moodily. Her family moved around a lot, since her dad was part of the Guild of Talking Pasta Plants, he had gotten and new job on this planet, FISHY-LIPS."

Amanda laughed, "Well folks, how'd you like the first Madlib of the night?"

The crowd whooped and hollered loudly.

Thorin was up next. He barely made it through without cracking up with laughter every time he read the word Meowie Mcsnorkles. SongofPsyche had really outdone herself this time.

The last and final speaker, Poe Dameron then came up. He smiled shyly and held the microphone.

"This is my first time, doing something like this. So please bare with me as I try to not burst into laughter. Here is a clip from Under the Mask, Madlibified for your entertainment."

And then he started reading:

" It took a minute for Monkey Butt to realize that someone was watching him. He looked up and saw that Bajangles was awake, groggy, but awake. Monkey Butt then noticed that something was different about Bajangles's other eye; instead of it being dark brown, it was a pale milky white and then he realized that Bajangles was blind in one eye.

"Uhh, hello, uh Ben or um…Bajangles." Monkey Butt stated awkward. Bajangles flinched slightly, but then turned to look at Monkey Butt. His buttcheeks narrowed, as if to say _you again._

"Yeah. Me again. You're kinda stuck with me. Sorry." Monkey Butt shouted at the top of his lungs

Bajangles shrugged, _like I want to throw you in a pit and cover you in sprinkles about you, I just want to stab you._

"Well, there's a lot of people who still want to throw you in a pit and cover you in sprinkles about you here, even if you say you don't want to throw you in a pit and cover you in sprinkles about us. We do." Monkey Butt answered.

Bajangles rolled his buttcheeks, and then once again inspected himself on the hot tub. He pulled at the tadpoles and then shot Monkey Butt a look, _why am I still in these things?_

"That's just the way it is, for now. Do you want to sit up?" Monkey Butt tapdanced, and then without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the drunk control for the hot tub and hit the up button. Immediately, Monkey Butt realized that he had made a mistake as he felt the lobsters once again surge with energy. Bajangles flinched and twitched against the tadpoles, face stricken with fear. The lights flickered and sparks flew in the lobsters. Monkey Butt felt a crabapple shove him backwards and he dropped the drunk. The heart rate elephant beeped faster and faster _beepbeepbeepbeepbeep._

Monkey Butt stared, and then he realized that Bajangles wasn't reacting to the hot tub being moved, he was reacting because he had no control over it. Monkey Butt instantly berated himself for acting so foolishly, for thinking that he could just take control over Bajangles without having consequences. Bajangles was jumping on the hot tub, and he needed to feel like he was in control to feel comfortable.

The lights flickered again and Monkey Butt felt the lobsters crackle around him. It was happening again. The dark crabapple was coming alive again and getting stronger the more Bajangles the panicked. He needed to calm down, he needed something to distract him from the flying sex snakes-

"Uhhhhh….Uhhhh 30 white backpacks full of flowers, slugs and tic tacs on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp then they stand still. What are they*?" Monkey Butt tapdanced quickly, standing back up and hoping, praying that this ludicrous idea would work.

Bajangles stopped mid struggle and stared at him and Monkey Butt held his breath.

"We used to have sex when we were young. Do you remember?" he tapdanced after a few more beats of silence.

Bajangles jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle his head slowly, not taking his buttcheeks off Monkey Butt.

Monkey Butt felt the electricity in the room start to fade away.

Bajangles then sighed, looked at Monkey Butt and mouthed "Arches National Park".

Monkey Butt smiled, "Yes, yes that's right. Arches National Park. You told me that one, remember? It took me almost the whole day to figure it out. It was quite clever."

Bajangles jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle again.

"Do you want to sit up?" Monkey Butt tapdanced again, gesturing to the hot tub.

Bajangles jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle.

This time, Monkey Butt moved want to throw you in a pit and cover you in sprinklesfully. He picked up the drunk control from the floor and showed it to Bajangles.

"This one is up, this one is down. I'll let you do it." He explained, pointing to the arrows. Then he slipped the drunk into his hand.

Bajangles jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle again, fumbled with the buttons and soon the hot tub started to incline. When he was sitting up comfortably, the hot tub stopped.

"Now that's a bit better, right?" Monkey Butt tapdanced

Bajangles jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle again, but then pulled his hands against the straps holding him to the hot tub and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Monkey Butt hesitated for a moment, then reached and undid the tadpoles.

"If anyone questions it, they'll answer to me." He shouted at the top of his lungs

Bajangles lifted his hands up to his face, feeling for the scars. His hands went down and he stopped deep red scar on his neck.

"Want to throw you in a pit and cover you in sprinkles?." Monkey Butt warned him. Bajangles flinched at his raised voice but then put his hands down in his lap.

They stared at each other for ten whole seconds.

"So….." Monkey Butt started, but then trailed off again.

"Do you like cards?" Monkey Butt tapdanced, an idea coming to him.

Bajangles cast him a suspicious look and raised his buttcheeks _Cards?_ He seemed to say _I am Bajangles commander of the First Order feared by all and you are asking me to play cards?_

"Well then what do you suggest? We're stuck in here until…..6 that's when I get my dinner break. Unless you would like to sit and glare at me all day –something I wouldn't mind but would rather you not do."

Bajangles sighed, blowing a wisp of hlobsters out of his face then jumped up and down then started to do the cupid shuffle. _Sure, there's not like I can do anything else._

Monkey Butt smiled, and reached in his bag for his deck of cards."

Poe smiled as he finished reading, took a quick bow and then headed off stage.

SongsofPsyche walked up to the stage, eyes shimmering with happiness. "Now, for the most important part of the evening. The dedication to my fans, I just wanted to say that without them, none of this would exist so please give them a huge round of applause!"

The room went wild, for she was right; they would not be here if it wasn't for her wonderful, beautiful readers.

"So. I started writing in high school as an outlet. Believe it or not, I was not the most popular or graceful back then. I had terribly face acne, was awkwardly skinny and fat at the same time and I hated talking to people, so I would sit in my room and write in my journals. Ten years ago, I discovered this wonderful site called , that had all these stories written about movies by writers just like me. I was so excited. So, I immediately started writing my first fiction, "I'll Never Leave You Behind" mainly because I was both fascinated and scared by the Alien series and needed to write through my fears. Let me tell you, that story is horrible. Go read it for yourself and leave me a nice comment. The spacing is all-wrong, it switches back and forth from past and present tense, the grammar is terrible and I could go on and on. I've been meaning to fix it, I really have but I think I keep it up the way it is as a reminder. It shows me how far I have come as a writer. And it is all because of YOU, my readers and my fans. Thank you all so so so much for all the reads, comments, favorites and follows. You mean the world to me and I wouldn't be here without you. So, in honor of you I have a little present for you: **Send me a prompt (anyone one you want) and I will write a little 500 word ficlet just for you** **J** **.** Thank you so much, guys. I really mean it!"

The characters broke out into applause again, whooping and shouting and sending their love to the readers.

Thorin thought the rest of the night went well. The Xenomoprh did a tap dance routine, and everyone had lots and lots of wine. By the end of the night, SongsofPsyche was crowd surfing among her beloved characters.

And thus ended a perfectly wonder awards night, it was so much fun that Thorin almost forgot that it was April Fools :P

The End!

888

Happy April Fools! I get you all every year J

Thank you so much for sticking with me all these years. Please send me your prompts to my inbox, and I will write you each a little story about whatever you want.

Thank you thank you!

Love,

SongofPsyche


End file.
